Vence Collar Tech Lead

Merck Gruppe - MSD Sharp & Dohme; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck Gruppe - MSD Sharp & Dohme seeks a Vence Collar Tech Lead to drive the technical design and mass production of an animal wearable collar. You will own the collar’s architecture, system integration and validation, ensuring reliability in real-world farm environments.

You will partner with the Vence core product team, R&D, NPI, and manufacturing partners to deliver scalable, manufacturable solutions while balancing performance and cost. Travel to customer sites and partners is expected.

Qualifications

• BSc or MSc in Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
• Minimum 5 years in technical leadership for hardware products.
• Experience across full product life cycle from discovery to mass production.

Responsibilities

• Own collar technical strategy, architecture and design including electronics, mechanics, embedded software and RF.
• Define validation strategy, risk management and readiness for launch.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and delivery across R&D, NPI, Operations and Customer Success.

Skills

IoT architecture

Embedded systems

Hardware design

Mass production

Cross-functional leadership

Product lifecycle

Technical leadership

Education

BSc/MSc in Electrical Engineering

Job description

Job Description

Animal Health Technology Solutions offers global animal identification and monitoring solutions for companion animals and livestock. These solutions enable pet owners to better manage the health and well-being of their pets and enable livestock producers to improve well-being and animal production. Technology Solutions include Core Technologies in Livestock Identification, Dairy, Beef, and Swine monitoring, for which the product/market fit is established, as well as products in discovery.

Our Technology Solutions division is evolving. We are moving to a Product Operating Model - a new way of working that empowers product teams to take full ownership and accountability for delivering customer and business value in ways our customers love and that work for the business.

Our product teams are cross-functional and durable, bringing together all the skills required to deliver impactful outcomes. Each team includes a Product Manager, Technology Lead, Product Designer, Delivery Lead, engineers, and developers.

We believe in customer centricity, ownership, and accountability. Solutions must be:

• Valuable – customers choose to buy or use them
• Viable – aligned with business constraints and goals
• Usable – intuitive and user-friendly
• Feasible – achievable with our technical capabilities

Leadership of the team is shared between the Product Manager and the Technology Lead, ensuring balanced guidance that bridges product vision and technical execution.

Role Summary

As the Vence Collar Tech Lead, you will provide technical leadership for the animal wearable device (collar) within the broader Vencesolution. You will lead the technical design and execution of the collar from concept through mass production, ensuring the solution is technically robust, manufacturable, reliable, and scalable in real-world farm environments.

You will work as part of the Vence core product team, in close partnership with the Vence Collar Product Manager, R&D teams, NPI, Operations, Customer Success, and manufacturing partners. You will be accountable for technical architecture, system integration, validation, risk management, and technical readiness for launch and ongoing support.

We are looking for a Vence Collar Tech Leadwho:

• Thrives on leading technical development of products that customers love, understanding customer problems and leading the development and delivery of technological solutions
• Is guided by measurable results related to collar performance and customer outcomes
• Collaborates across R&D, NPI, Operations, Supply Chain, and Customer Success to deliver a technically strong device
• Uses field data and technical evidence to guide engineering tradeoffs and improvements
• Fosters an environment of continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration in a multidisciplinary team

Key Responsibilities

Collar Technical Strategy, Architecture, and Design

• Work with the Vence Collar Product Managerand cross-functional partners to understand Vencecustomer needs and translate agreed product outcomes into technical solutions for the collar.
• Lead the technical architecture and system design for the collar, including electronics, mechanics, embedded software, RF communications, integration, and validation.
• Define and drive engineering solutions that meet performance, reliability, manufacturability, and cost constraints.
• Ensure collar designs and algorithms are compatible with and make effective use of relevant Core Platforms, avoiding duplication of platform responsibilities.
• Evaluate technical feasibility, complexity, and risk for proposed design changes and solutions.
• Own collar-specific product outcomes and metrics (e.g., field failure/return rates, installation/activation success, battery life, robustness, unit cost) and use these to guide design trade-offs

Collaboration, Product Discovery & Cross Functional Leadership

• Work as part of the Vence core product teamto define goals and solve customer problems related to the collar, bringing collar-specific technical and field insights into decisions.
• Drive and participate in product discovery for collar-related problems:
  • Engage with Customer Success, field teams, and customers to understand pain points (installation, comfort, durability, reliability).
  • Help define and run experiments and trials to validate ideas before committing to full design changes.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with R&D functional managers, engineers, product design, NPI, Operations, Supply Chain, and Customer Success to ensure alignment and delivery.

Validation, Quality, and NPI Readiness

• Ensure speed to market while maintaining focus on quality, robustness, and performance in demanding environments.
• Collaborate with NPI and Operations on production launch and ramp-up, as well as ongoing mass production support.
• Define and oversee validation strategy, technical acceptance criteria, and readiness activities.
• Identify risks early and proactively define mitigation strategies.
• Support ongoing operations by investigating and resolving field issues and feeding insights into future improvements.
• Stay current with relevant IoT, hardware, and wearable technologies and industry trends.
• Promote innovation while maintaining strong focus on reliability, safety, and field performance.

Performance and Accountability

• Own the technical architecture and engineering of the collar and ensure the solution achieves customer outcomes.
• Deliver high-quality technical solutions that meet agreed requirements and performance targets.
• Track and report technical metrics such as reliability, test coverage, yield, field failure rates, and risks.
• Ensure engineering decisions balance feasibility, reliability, maintainability, manufacturability, and cost.
• Provide strong technical input to support product decisions.

Required Qualifications

• BSc/MSc in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in technical leadership or technical project management for multidisciplinary hardware products.
• Proven experience working in a product team and collaborating cross-functionally.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working in medium and large-scale companies.
• Comprehensive knowledge of IoT architecture, embedded systems, hardware, mechanics, integration, and validation.
• Experience developing mass-production products for wireless IoT or wearable devices.
• Proven experience working throughout the entire product life cycle, from discovery and concept through design, validation, and mass production.
• Experience working on complex products requiring a high level of technical know-how and coordination across multiple geographic locations.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and organizational skills.
• Passion for building products that solve real customer problems and deliver measurable value in the field.
• A mindset of ownership, accountability, and customer focus; comfortable signing up for results and driving outcomes through others when needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in geofencing, animal technology, or similar field-deployed hardware solutions.

Characteristics

• Ability to lead as an individual contributor within a matrix environment, influencing without direct line authority.
• Strong ability to focus on what is important to the customer and the business, not just what is technically interesting.
• Willingness to travel to meet customers, field teams, manufacturing partners, and remote R&D teams.
• Problem solver with a "can-do" attitude and strong desire for learning and innovation.
• Excellent team player, able to collaborate closely with the Vence Product Manager, Vence Tech Lead, Vence core product team, engineering, NPI, Operations, and Customer Success.
• Passion for fostering team innovation and leveraging the collective ideas and expertise of cross-functional colleagues.

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

Change Controls, Portfolio, Programme, and Project Support, Problem Management, Release Management, Risk Management, Strategic Planning, System Designs

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities.

We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another's thinking and approach problems collectively.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts.

San Francisco Residents Only: We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Los Angeles Residents Only: We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance

Employee Status: Regular

Relocation: Domestic/International

VISA Sponsorship: Yes

Travel Requirements: No Travel Required

Flexible Work Arrangements: Not Applicable

Shift: Not Indicated

Valid Driving License: No

Hazardous Material(s): N/A

Job Posting End Date: 10/8/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.

Requisition ID:R398703